This invention relates to sheath packages for medical instruments and more particularly relates to a disposable, compact sheath package containing a sheath used to cover clinical thermometers.
A number of instruments are used in the medical profession and, to some extent, the scientific profession to enter the mouth and other body cavities of human beings and animals for the purpose of taking various measurements, probes, observations and the like. Clinical thermometers, tongue depressors, probing instruments and the like are examples of medical and scientific instruments employed for such purposes. Of primary concern in the use of these instruments is the necessity to provide instruments which are clean, and preferably sterile, to prevent bacteria and harmful microorganisms from being communicated from the instrument to the patient. In many instances, for example, with the ordinary clinical thermometer, known techniques to sterilize the instrument itself have not been thoroughly effective in preventing the transmittal of bacteria. As a means to provide cleanliness and/or sterility during use of these instruments, prophylactic covers or sheaths have been devised and are now used and accepted by the medical profession in an effort to prevent bacteria from being communicated by contaminated instruments.
Particularly with clinical thermometer sheaths there are many known types and variations which attempt to provide sterile conditions when the thermometer is being used. In general, to be feasible and accepted on a wide scale, these sheaths must be disposable, practical, and be an economical means of facilitating the use of the thermometer. Since the sheath for a thermometer will have wide scale application in doctor's offices and medical facilities, the package containing the sheath must have features such as simple construction, which minimizes the expense of fabrication while limiting the difficulty of extracting the sheath, convenience to the user and easy handleability both before the sheath is exposed and thereafter during use of the sheathcovered thermometer, and simplicity in use requiring a minimum of in-service training.
A number of known packages containing prophylactic sheaths, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,847,280, 3,552,558, 3,092,252 and Re. 26,447, encompass many of the general features for such a product. However, while these and other sheath packages contain many advantageous features, their principal shortcoming lies in the means to expose the sheath located within the package. Specifically, the known sheath packages require some tearing, stripping, twisting or otherwise of the outer surfaces of the package, generally with the hand or fingers, to expose the sheath inside. The problem is that when tearing, stripping, etc., the hand or fingers may, and often do, touch the outside surface of the sheath thereby contaminating the sheath just prior to patient use. Moreover, since tearing or stripping of the package is involved in many, if not most, of the known sheath packages there are excess scrap pieces which must be disposed of, and this requires that the person opening the sheath package must perform an additional step of discarding the scrap pieces, which could lead to more carelessness in touching the contaminating the now exposed outer surface of the sheath. Also, removal of these extra items adds to the complexity in use, thereby requiring specific training and in-service re-inforcement for use user.
Other sheath packages such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,469,685 and 3,308,940 are constructed so that an instrument may be inserted into the package without any tearing or stripping involved. However, these type packages are generally fabricated with weakened sections, score lines or recessed areas to facilitate the entrance and exit of the instrument. The weakened sections and score lines provide regions with tenuous barrier potential where bacteria may enter. Furthermore, the manufacturing steps to produce score lines or weakened areas on the package add expense to the fabrication of the package, thus detracting from the economical aspect of the product.
Additionally, many of the packages which contain the prophylactic sheaths are about as long as the thermometer itself, are very thin and thereby flexible. The length of these packages detracts from the compactness of the package, whereas the flexibility often introduces some cumbersomeness and awkwardness in attempting to insert the thermometer into the package and then into the sheath.